Flash floods in Bosnia prompt evacuations amid power outages

world
Flash Floods In Bosnia Prompt Evacuations Amid Power Outages
A car is submerged in a flooded street in the Sarajevo suburb of Ilidza, Bosnia, © AP/Press Association Images
Share this article

By Associated Press Reporter

Heavy rain has caused flash flooding in Bosnia, prompting evacuations, causing power outages in the capital and submerging roads in some parts of the Balkan country.

Homes and businesses were flooded around Sarajevo while local roads were submerged in the south west of the country, forcing some schools to cancel classes.

Advertisement


A man wades through a flooded street as a car drives by in the Sarajevo suburb of Ilidza, Bosnia
A man wades through a flooded street as a car drives by in the Sarajevo suburb of Ilidza (AP)

Most parts of Sarajevo were left without electric power due to the flooding of one of the main substations on the outskirts of the city.

The power transmission company, Elektroprijenos, said the heavy rain was hindering attempts to get the power rerouted.

Advertisement

Dozens of people had to be evacuated from their homes in the Sarajevo suburbs, along the banks of the rivers Bosnia and Tilava, as well as a residential care home for elderly people and a plant filling oxygen tanks for hospitals treating Covid-19 patients.


Men protect a house on a flooded street in the Sarajevo suburb of Ilidza, Bosnia
Men protect a house in Ilidza (AP)

“The situation is bad and we do not expect it to improve soon,” said Danis Memagic, a firefighter co-ordinating evacuations in the area.

Advertisement

Evacuations were also under way in the city of Konjic, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) south-west of the capital.


Parts of residential areas are submerged in high water in the Sarajevo suburb of Ilidza, Bosnia
Parts of residential areas are submerged in high water in Ilidza (AP)

Rain started late on Thursday and forecasts say it will continue to fall until Sunday, raising fears of a repeat of record flooding that affected about a third of the population in 2014.

Advertisement

Read More

Message submitting... Thank you for waiting.

Want us to email you top stories each lunch time?

Download our Apps
© BreakingNews.ie 2024, developed by Square1 and powered by PublisherPlus.com